Eczema appearing after weaning

[Oregano20]

I've read alot of old posts about this subject on here, but they often end without any conclusions and I'm just hoping for some advice for my LO

LO is 7 months now.

Exclusively BF, he had bad colic like symptoms so I cut out dairy when he was 4months due to suspected CMPA. Started weaning at 6mnths. Loved everything, started slowly with veg and fruit first. After having Weetabix I noticed eczema on back of knees. Continued to give Weetabix every few days on advice of gp, then he got more patches of ezcema, including on the back of his finger which turned into little fluid filled blisters before drying out a day later.
Gave a teaspoon of cows milk in food, he got spots all round his mouth.

So we cut out Weetabix and didn't give milk again. But he is still getting patches on his body. Some around his chin.

Now he is eating mainly readybrek, banana, root veggies, avocado, some fruit like pear and blueberries.

And I'm tearing my hair out thinking, could it be the banana? Maybe it's all fruits? I can't stop thinking about it all

GP has referred us to dietician, but HV has said they are just leaving VMs with dietician and no one is getting back to them.

I really don't know what to do. I've got a food diary, I'm moisterizing him about 5 times a day and I've stopped using body wash in the bath.

He never had ezcema before weaning, I feel like I'm poisoning him :(

Sorry for long OP, but appreciate any replies

Hi OP. I wouldn't be giving your LO cows milk before 12 months as their digestive system isn't ready for it.
I'd cut the milk out immediately, especially with you thinking your baby has suspected CMPA. You may be making it worse by giving cows milk to him.

Switch to baby porridge and mix it with whatever formula milk you use. I imagine your baby has been prescribed a dairy free formula?
Allergies are all about process of elimination. Trying to get tested with the GP is a total joke, so I'd see if you can pin point it yourself (if it's not the milk)
Cut one thing out for a week and see if there is improvement in your baby's skin. If not add that back into the diet and take something else out and so on.

I believe on the ReadyBrek box it says ‘not suitable for milk allergy suffers’ so maybe try cutting that out? I think Organix (baby brand) do dairy free porridge you could try instead.

Obviously meant sufferers!

Exact same situation here with my almost 7 month old. He doesn’t ‘flare’ up to anything, just seems to have a general reaction to potentially more than one thing. He was combination fed so we don’t suspect a dairy allergy. We cut out gluten with no improvement. The gp prescribed us cortisone cream as a short term solution as it was pretty bad and widespread. It cleared instantly. But now is remerging. I am leaning towards private allergy testing as we can’t seem to pinpoint one root cause with elimination. For context, my youngest brother had severe eczema and was allergy tested as an infant. To over 300 food items, he was highly allergic to all but 2, which he was mildly allergic to (chicken and cocoa!). My point is that there may be several allergy issues which is why you may not be able to pinpoint it with elimination only.

We also have various emollient creams and bath emollients prescribed but none seem to help just yet. I’m told it’s trial and error trying to find one that works! What are you moisturising with? And have you tried any other products?

Hi thanks for the replies. I only gave a teaspoon of cows milk in food, my health visitor told me to do it, as the cmpa is only what I suspect and she said that it's fine to cook with cows milk, and for him to eat dairy. But I only gave him it once and now I won't be giving any dairy until I eventually speak to a dietician.

( I use my breast milk for his porridge and purees.)

I've checked the box (it's actually the Asda ready oats) and it doesn't say milk? It's just oats and vitamins. The gp told me Weetabix had cows milk protein in it (again, it's actually Asda wheat biscuits) but I checked the box and it doesn't say milk.

Alot of what I read says don't cut anything as they need the nutrients. But my HV said food under 1 is just for fun, so do they really need the nutrients? It's all so conflicting.

@sleepslikeababy sorry to hear your LO is suffering. I am tempted to go private if I need to.

I've taken pictures of the eczema and emailed to the gp, they prescribed a steroid cream but I haven't used it as I think his patches are mild (except his finger but that calmed down on its own) I would use it if they started to become bad or itchy.

They didn't give me advice on anything to use in the bath, but I'm using Child's farm unfragranced moisturizer, the gp said that was fine.

I'm thinking I might put vaseline all around his mouth and chin before eating incase the food acidity irritates the dry patches on his chin.

I had the same problem with my two kids. My first baby developed eczema from 6 months old (the start of weaning) and still has it now 3 years later (though it's generally under control with frequent moisturizing). We tested him privately and it turned out he's not allergic to anything.
With my 2nd baby, it's again eczema since weaning, and really unclear whether the eczema is triggered by certain foods. This time we haven't gone for the private test yet; still in the trial and error stage. I wonder whether the NHS offers allergy tests.

@Vicky1989x you're so right, I've just checked and readybrek says not suitable for milk allergy sufferers and my Asda one says may contain traces of milk. I can't believe I missed that! It doesn't have milk as an ingredient but I'll be cutting out porridge now and seeing how he goes.

If it turns out it's not wheat and only milk than at least that's only one thing to eliminate and substitute with plant based stuff (which is what I'm eating/drinking now to BF).

Thanks again for your replies everyone

One more thing re the Vaseline idea. I use Bepanthen barrier cream (for nappy rash) on his cheeks and chin and it helped a lot! It was terrible before!

Maybe try an emollient bath wash? You can buy them in boots. Also an emollient cream. They stink as they contain paraffin but work better than normal moisturisers/bath washes. A warning though, your baby will be highly flammable if you use a product that contains paraffin. We have no sources of ignition in the house so I’m comfortable using it. The pharmacist can help you rather than the gp but I did get mine prescribed so that is an option for you too.

Yes I use bepantham at every nappy change, great stuff, I will try that on his cheeks and chin, thanks!

@michellejj it's got to be linked doesn't it. A shame your wee one still has it.

Oats are often contaminated with wheat during their production so if you think your LO is allergic to wheat you could try making his porridge with gluten free oats and see if that helps.